Dreaming Hearts
by shielddrake42
Summary: “I would rather live in eternal hell than break her heart.” Will Silver and Amy ever reveal their feelings for each other? A fight with Sonic may lead them to that chance. Sequel to Bungling Love and Broken Fire. OOC and Silvamy inside.


Disclaimer: All related characters belong to Sega/SonicTeam; this does not include me

Disclaimer: All related characters belong to Sega/SonicTeam; this does not include me. I take no credit for the series' creation and I am not making any money off of using them in this fic.

A/N: It is official: through a simple friend request and blackmail, the Silvamy pairing has grown on me. Anyway, this is the third in a series of fics, starting with Bungling Love and continuing on to Broken Fire. Reading those two first will probably help this fic make more sense, but I don't think that's absolutely necessary. This is by far one of the sappiest things I've ever written, and I don't think it's as good as the other two. I still haven't played the game, so I'm not sure about Elise's character; I'm pulling it out of the air, basically. Despite this, I hope readers like it. Same warnings as before apply: AU, OOC, and Silvamy. Don't like, don't read. Enjoy!

_Thoughts are in italics. __**Italics and Bold together are for a flashback.**_

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Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles sauntered around Crisis City, unsure of where exactly they were going. They had transported themselves to the future after finding that Eggman had done the same. Regarding this, their trip had been pointless, as they learned that Eggman had returned to the past shortly after they had arrived, which left them where they were at that moment: searching for a way back home.

On the other hand, Amy had finally run into Silver, who had somehow returned to his own time. She wasn't sure how he did it, but she was happy to see he had been home. 'Home' being Crisis City though ended up being an almost literal hell. Before, Amy didn't know what Silver had gone through his while life to lead him to want to kill Sonic, aka the Iblis Trigger. But now that she had seen it first hand she wished she could wipe it from her memory.

Both she and Sonic had tried to reason with Silver about finding a way to destroy Iblis that wouldn't involve killing Sonic. Silver had not only rejected their help, but had claimed he wasn't going to try and kill Sonic. That forced him to continue to live the torment that was Iblis, and that just didn't make sense to Amy. They had ended up arguing—again—and well, Amy didn't want to think about it.

Sonic kept stealing glances at Amy out of the corner of his eye as he walked. Her eyes were slightly puffy and red from crying, and she hadn't said a word since they had left Silver. She was walking slower than usual. Tails and Knuckles were silent, not sure if they should say anything. Sonic was baffled; it was obvious what was going on, but Silver seemed to be doing everything in his power to avoid or block it.

Amy sniffed again, looking as if she would start crying again. Sonic sighed softly, not loud enough for the others to hear him. He was livid that his friend was being treated in such a way. There was so much tension between the two he could stab it with one of his quills. Hearing more sniffles Sonic slowly stopped walking, turned around, and began running back.

Something had to be done.

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Sonic found Silver in pretty much the same spot they had left him. He was still in the little semicircle of ruins, facing the river of lava on the other side. Silver had fallen to his knees next to the cliff, and looked like he was hugging himself. Sonic furrowed his brow. What in the world?

"Silver!" he called once he was in hearing range. Silver slowly stood, but didn't face him.

"What do you want, Sonic?" he said, his voice broken and almost in a whisper.

Sonic didn't reply for a bit, before walking up to Silver, standing no more than three feet away from him. He tapped his foot.

"Silver, why are you acting this way?" Sonic asked. He held his hands out in front of him in exasperation. "I don't know what you said to Amy, but she's heartbroken."

The younger hedgehog's head rose a bit at that. She was heartbroken? Over what?

"She wants to help…we all do! We wouldn't have offered if we didn't," Sonic argued. "If nothing else, come back with us. We hate seeing that you have to live like this."

"If you're willing to offer that to me, would you be willing to offer that to all the people here?" Silver questioned, his tone clearly showing that he didn't believe Sonic would do that. "Not that that's very many…"

Sonic didn't answer. He wouldn't rise to that bait. This was about Silver himself, not the people of the city. First Sonic would work on getting Silver to work with him, and then he would worry about stopping Iblis.

"Silver, if you would just listen to us for a minute—"

"Give me one good reason I should listen to you," Silver argued. "You may have seen what my home is like, but that doesn't mean you know what my life has been like."

Sonic groaned and pulled at his quills. He couldn't believe how stubborn Silver was being. It was as if he was purposefully trying to make Sonic mad. Well, two could play at that game.

"You are so occupied with your misery that you're blind to the possibility that there are ways to change it," Sonic lectured. "What do you think Amy was trying to say? She wants to make life better for you."

The blue hedgehog saw Silver visibly tense. Wait, so the problem lay with Amy? Why in the world would she be a problem? Sonic had seen the way Silver looked at her, so why was he holding himself back?

_He doesn't believe Amy feels the same way…_Sonic thought to himself. _He doesn't want to go through the pain of not having her…_

Sonic wasn't surprised that Silver thought this way. He had seen the agony of this place, and that was saying it in the nicest possible way. The food here was fetid, the air polluted, the heat unbearable, and with Iblis on top of all that…no wonder Silver didn't want to get his hopes up. It would just lead to more disappointment, if that was possible. Perhaps Sonic could change his mind.

"Yes, Amy wants to help you more than anything. I can tell," Sonic argued. "The whole time we've been here it's been about you. She can't focus on anything else! I think she even loves you—"

Silver spun around, his amber eyes glowing.

"Don't you dare taunt me like that," he warned in a hiss. His hands were fisted and his quills stood on end.

Well, that finally got Sonic a response.

"It's true. Why would she bother trying to help you, even after you refused it, as much as she has if she didn't?" Sonic pressed, noting that Silver was becoming angrier by the minute. He needed to watch himself. "She was in tears when she ran from you. She loves you and you pushed her away—"

Anything else he intended to say was cut off as Silver psychically pushed him back, away from the cliff. Sonic half-expected this, so he was prepared to endure such a blast and managed to land on his feet a few meters away. Silver began glowing white, his rage becoming more apparent by the moment.

"Don't you _dare_ taunt me like that," he repeated, his voice rising. "I'm not _anything_ like you."

"Like me?" Sonic wondered. Right, they were talking about Amy. Sonic felt guilt escalating inside him. "Oh yeah…"

Silver took Sonic's moment of distraction to mentally throw a metal beam at him. Sonic dodged, and moved to tackle the other hedgehog, hoping to calm him down if he pinned him down. Silver raised his hand and froze Sonic in mid-jump; he then shoved Sonic back again, this time making him crash into a wall.

In the meantime, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles had noticed that Sonic wasn't with them. Realizing that there was only one place he could be, they rushed back to Silver's hideout. Sure enough, they arrived just in time to see Sonic collide into the nearby ruins. Sonic shook his head in surprise and faced Silver again.

"Silver! Sonic!" Amy screamed, her face torn. "Stop it!"

The psychic froze at the sound of her voice, long enough for Knuckles to run behind him and grab him around the waist.

"Hold on, you two!" Knuckles yelled, pinning Silver's arms to his sides. "Stop—!"

Knuckles was cut off because Silver released a blast of energy, throwing everyone to the ground and making some of the ruins crumble even more. His head was telling him that such commotion would attract Iblis, but his heart was aching so much that he no longer cared if Iblis found him or not. His chest was on fire; so much pain. He never felt like that before, and he didn't like it.

Temporarily forgetting his mental abilities, Silver rushed to Sonic and rammed him in the stomach, forcing them both to the ground. Sonic reacted by flipping them over and pinning Silver below. They continuously spun around until they were only a few feet from the cliff. Sonic barely heard Tails yell at him to watch out for said cliff when he lodged his right foot into Silver's abdomen and launched him into the air and over the edge.

Silver had no time to concentrate to levitate as he rolled down the cliff. His head, legs and chest slammed into every piece of metal and rubble embedded in the dirt on the way down. He both felt and heard a crack as his head was cut on something and he saw red. He rolled and spun and crashed; his body finally stopped at the bottom of the cliff, only a few feet away from the lava.

He didn't try to stand; his whole body was in pain, and it wasn't the fiery sort he felt earlier. He felt stabs of pain in his head, chest, and left leg. Silver closed his eyes and didn't move.

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Sonic jumped to his feet and rushed to the cliff edge. He watched as Silver bashed into numerous metal beams, wedges, and boulders. He cringed in response as he saw Silver's head hit a particularly sharp edge of metal. Sonic began to panic as Silver rolled to the bank of the lava and didn't move.

"Silver?!" Sonic yelled. He wasn't moving. Oh god…Sonic moved to head down the cliff himself, but Knuckles stopped him.

"Let me," Knuckles ordered, turning so he could climb down the cliff. "You've done enough."

"I didn't mean…" Sonic began, still a little shocked by what happened.

Knuckles gave him an expression that said 'I know.' before he headed down, with Tails hovering beside him until they reached the white hedgehog. He was badly beaten, and a cut on his head was bleeding quite a bit. His chest was bruised, and his left leg was twisted in an unnatural direction.

"Silver?" Tails called. His hand hovered over the other boy's shoulder, afraid that if he touched him it might cause more pain. "Silver?"

He wasn't budging. Knuckles kneeled down and checked his pulse. It was a little slow, but there nonetheless. He shook Silver's shoulder as gently as he could. Silver slowly opened his eyes and looked at him; his face didn't move, but he gazed at Knuckles out of the corner of his eye. Tails noticed that his eyes were a little wet, indicating his pain both physically and emotionally.

"I'll carry him on my back," Knuckles decided, looking up the cliff again. He turned to Tails. "It's not so steep he'll fall, but could you hold him there just in case?"

Tails nodded, and Knuckles carefully picked up Silver and set him on his back. Tails held the hedgehog at the waist, since that seemed to be the only place he wasn't badly injured.

"…Just go away…" Silver whimpered, his voice just barely audible. Knuckles glimpsed over his shoulder at him. He saw that the other's eyes were clinched shut in pain, but he grabbed Silver's arms and threw them own his own shoulders anyway. Silver gasped at the movement, but Knuckles started climbing nonetheless.

Once the three reached the top of the cliff, Sonic and Amy helped lift Silver off Knuckles' back and cautiously set him on the ground on his back. Amy rushed back inside the hideout, grabbed some of the fabric that made up Silver's bed, returned to his side, and pressed the cloth against the head wound to help the blood clot. Silver groaned in pain.

"We have to get him some help," Tails said. He gestured to the bruises on Silver's chest and the visibly broken leg. "A hospital or something."

"They don't have the means to grow healthy food here," Amy whined as she removed the bloodstained cloth and replacing it with a new one. She shook her head in despair. "What makes you think they would have a hospital here?"

"What about that guy who gave us the food?" Sonic suggested. "Polo…I think? Why don't we ask him?"

"…I guess it's better than nothing," Amy conceded. She looked down at Silver worriedly.

"I'll keep an eye on Silver," Knuckles told her, in an attempt to comfort her. "You three go talk to this Polo person."

"Knuckles, here," Tails said, passing a communicator to the echidna. "Call us if you need to."

Amy gazed at Silver one last time before nodding. She watched Knuckles nod to Tails and then carry Silver into the hideout before she left with Sonic and Tails.

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The trio actually got a little lost while looking for Polo's place, seeing as Sonic and Amy had only been to see him once before. Tails was able to find it by flying and spotting the sign 'Soleanna Bank," and thus that problem was solved. Sonic walked up to the familiar doorway with only the bottom half of the door remaining and knocked.

"Polo?" he called softly, knowing that the anteater wouldn't want him to yell. "Are you there?"

The old anteater climbed out of the darkness of the building (limping as usual) and blinked. He appeared to have been sleeping; he rubbed his eyes and gazed at the group. He had a puzzled face for a moment before it disappeared.

"Hey, you hedgehogs were with Silver yesterday," Polo spoke in recognition. "What is it?"

"Do you have any first aid kits?" Sonic asked.

"…First aid kits?"

"Medical supplies? Splints? Bandages?"

Polo stared at Sonic in confusion.

"They help heal injuries," Tails added, looking at the anteater from behind Sonic.

"…Oh. I've heard about that stuff," Polo replied. "But I thought they were just parts of legend."

"Legend?" Amy inquired, cocking her head to the side. "What do you do if someone if hurt?"

"If you get hurt, you just have to wait until you heal," Polo described. "And if you can't move, we leave you there until you can. …Iblis usually gets them before then though."

"You leave your wounded to die?!" Sonic yelped in disgust.

"If you can't survive on your own, you're a goner," the anteater explained. "We can't do anything to help someone like that."

"…What if someone has a broken leg or something?" Amy questioned him. Part of her didn't want to know the answer.

Polo gave her a blank look before opening the bottom half of the door. They now saw the reason he had the limp: his right leg had been broken at some point and had healed in the wrong direction. It was about an inch shorter than his other leg, and the foot was pointed inwards instead of forward. Amy saw this and had to turn away so she wouldn't feel sick.

"You have to take care of yourself," he continued. "Don't you people know this?"

Sonic and Tails glanced at each other in shock, and Sonic put a hand on Amy's shoulder. Polo suddenly appeared worried.

"Wait a minute. Where's Silver?" Silence was his answer. "I see."

"Thank you for your time," Sonic said, guiding Amy away with Tails in tow. Polo gazed after them before closing his door and heading back into the darkness.

Amy lifted her head and turned to the boys. She had a hard look on her face that showed that they were not to argue with what she was about to say. They had never seen her look more upset and determined simultaneously.

"We have to do something," she exclaimed in a firm voice. "We can't let Silver end up like that."

"I know," Sonic agreed. He turned to his fox friend. "Tails, you still have that communicator?"

Tails pulled his device out and set it to the frequency that Knuckles' communicator had.

"Update Knuckles," Sonic commanded. "Then we can find a way back home."

"You want to go home now?!" Amy said in disbelief. Was he going to disagree with her after all? "What about Silver?"

"Silver is who I'm thinking about," Sonic clarified. "He told us that Eggman went back to our time. We just have to find out how he did it."

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Sonic, Amy, and Tails spent the next hour searching for some means to return to the past, their present.

Amy couldn't stand looking around for something that might not exist when Silver was possibly on his deathbed. She wished she could take everything back. The arguing, the yelling, the pain…she wished it had never happened. Her pulse was rushing; she came along to help Silver, and now partly because of her…Silver was going to die, and there was nothing she could do about it. And she was away from him, so she would never have the chance to tell him—

What was she thinking?! That train of thoughts were just as hopeless as Silver had been, and she forced herself to think differently. She couldn't give up hope now. There was a way to help Silver. She just had to get him to her time, where medical knowledge was more extensive and accessible than it was in Crisis City.

The three entered a large building that led partially underground. While examining the rooms Sonic thought the place seemed very familiar. It had old computer equipment and a few rusted robots sitting around, all of which looked like they hadn't been used in decades. On the side of one of the machines Sonic saw the thing that immediately told him where they were.

Eggman's emblem had been painted onto the robot's arm.

He knew they were in the future Soleanna (the bank sign confirmed that) and the emblem proved that they were in the remains of Eggman's base. He only hoped that the technology in the base was still running.

Sonic instantly racked his brain, trying to remember exactly how they had found the time machine that was functional in their time. Amy and Tails observed him in bewilderment; they had not seen the emblem and therefore hadn't made the connection. Eventually Sonic located the room he was searching for. It contained a dusty computer board and screen, with wiring connected to a circular rig on the ceiling and floor. He had a flash of the room when it was new, and although this room had clearly aged a lot he could tell it was the same room containing the same time machine. Once Amy and Tails saw the room as well everything clicked into place.

Tails walked over to the computer console and checked to see if it was still operational. Tails whooped in joy when the power came on and the screen was activated.

"Yes!" Amy declared. Sonic mimicked the exclamation. "Now we can go home and get Silver some help."

"It looks like it's been tampered with since its last use. It might take a little time to program it to send us to our time," Tails explained, glancing at Sonic. "I can do it, but with the limited power here it will take a while."

"Then you do that while we go get Silver and Knuckles," Sonic described. Tails nodded.

Amy and Sonic left in a flash to do just that. Amy would have been running ahead of Sonic due to her excitement, if the blue hedgehog didn't run as fast as he did.

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Sonic and Amy arrived at Silver's hideout. Knuckles had tried to patch Silver up with the limited first aid he knew. His head had stopped bleeding, but it still looked bad. Every cut and bruise was still visible; in fact some of them appeared to be even worse, possibly infected. Knuckles spotted the two hedgehogs and rushed to them. He seemed rather flushed.

"Boy, am I glad to see you!" he hollered.

"What happened?" Amy asked. "Is Silver all right?"

Knuckles glanced at her, took a deep breath, and then told his story.

_**Fifteen minutes passed from the time Sonic, Tails, and Amy had left to speak with Polo. There was no sign of Iblis or any other enemy, but Knuckles kept vigilant just in case. Personally, he did not want to experience holding Iblis' molten jaws open while standing in its mouth again. That had not been pleasant, to say the least.**_

_**Save for a few coughs coming from Knuckles due to the dust in the area, everything had been quiet. It was a little unnerving.**_

"_**Is anybody there?" Silver asked in a raspy voice, finally stirring.**_

"_**Yes," Knuckles responded. He left his post and moved to where Silver could see him, next to him. "I'm here."**_

"_**You're Knuckles, right?" the hedgehog asked carefully. His eyes were dull and moist, but no tears had come yet. The echidna made note of this, and nodded. "Can I ask you a favor?"**_

"_**What is it?"**_

_**Silver was quiet for a moment before he voiced his request. "I want you to kill me."**_

"_**What?!" Knuckles yelled. He must have heard wrong. Silver could not have possibly said what Knuckles thought he said. Silver took a breath and winced in pain.**_

"_**I won't heal right, and Iblis will get me since I can't move," Silver explained. "I don't want to prolong my suffering. Please kill me. End it quickly."**_

"He asked you to kill him?!" Amy screamed, disbelieving. She slowly sat down and put her head in her hands. "He actually…asked you…?"

"…It makes sense, considering what Polo told us," Sonic recalled. Knuckles glanced at him with a perplexed expression. "I'll explain on the way."

Knuckles wanted to know that minute, but instead he just picked up Silver again, who had since gone unconscious from the pain.

"Don't worry, Silver," Amy said sadly to herself. She was still stunned by this new revelation. "Everything will be better soon."

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Tails was working furiously on the computer when the Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles arrived. He typed on the keyboard, sometimes banging it in frustration, but a few moments later he had it programmed properly.

"Okay, we're ready," he conveyed, giving a couple more taps to the board. "It took a while to set it to the right date, but the time machine is up and running."

"Tails, you're a genius," Sonic complimented him with a smile. The young fox blushed.

"There might be one problem though," Tails admitted. "I'm not sure how Silver's injuries will react to the time travel. The trip might make them worse, or he might not be transported to the other side at all."

Amy put a hand on her chest and glanced over at the unconscious Silver still in Knuckles arms. Was she willing to take the chance that either of those things might happen? Or maybe something else that Tails hadn't thought of? Silver wasn't in good shape as it was. Could he survive something worse? She saw that the others were all looking at her. Evidently she had the last word. Amy thought before speaking.

"We have to bring him home," she concluded. "The trip might not agree with Silver, but he'll die anyway if we don't try."

That was all it took. The others nodded and Tails activated the device.

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Sonic held onto his stomach as the nausea from the time travel subsided. Much like Chaos Control, it zapped some of his energy and made him disoriented. He noticed that they had landed in the middle of Soleanna, and that it was the middle of the night. That was a good thing; he would have hated to have arrived at a time when they would have attracted a lot of attention. He shook his head and moved to check on his friends.

Tails seemed all right. He was used to stomach-churning movements, as he often flew in such ways while battling or when he was working on the Tornado. Being upside down for instance was not unusual for him. Knuckles was the same. The echidna could glide, swim, dig, and climb in almost any direction; he had an instinctive sense of his bearings.

Amy wasn't effected like Sonic was, but that might have been because she had seen Silver land a few feet away and was more focused on him. Assessing his wounds she found none that were new or exacerbated, and his pulse seemed normal for being as injured as he was. She sighed in relief. He was alive.

"Okay, now we need to find a doctor," Tails stated, stating the next stage of the plan. "I don't know Soleanna that well. Where would a hospital be?"

"I have a better idea. Let's ask Princess Elise," Sonic proposed. "I bet she has the best doctors around. She'll be willing to help, I'm sure."

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Princess Elise had been more than willing to help her friend Sonic, it turned out. She ordered the group into the infirmary of her castle in Soleanna and called for her head physician, who had the reputation for the best in the land. Silver was moved into the operating room, and the others were forced to wait in the sitting area.

The doctor was an older human, perhaps in his early fifties. His age, however, had no impact on his skill or experience. There was a glimmer of wisdom and insight in his eyes, and after he explained what he was planning to do Amy felt that her friend was in good hands.

Dr. Zaydan Jacob gave a breakdown of his agenda. First he would tend to the head wound, as bleeding of the brain and concussion were among some of the more critical issues. The injury did not appear too serious, but he didn't want to take the chance. He would then move on to Silver's chest, which was badly bruised. Primary diagnosis just by looking made the doctor think that the worse he had were cracked ribs, not broken. He would check with X-rays just to be sure. Silver's left leg was twisted and clearly broken, but the X-rays would show exactly what was wrong. Dr. Jacob would then operate and set the leg correctly. Lastly, he would check the minor scratches, cuts, and bruises to make sure nothing was infected.

The others all waited impatiently outside the infirmary. Sonic was pacing, and Tails followed him around the room. Knuckles stood by the window, keeping his gaze outside. Elise had cancelled any arrangements she had to see to this, and she was really the only one who was patient about the whole thing. She knew that she couldn't do anything until Dr. Jacob told her more.

Amy sat with her hands in her lap, her heart pounding in worry. She knew that Silver would be okay physically now that he was getting medical help, but what she was now worried about was his mental state. He had obviously been upset enough to attack Sonic like that, and she couldn't help feeling it was her fault. She had tried to be encouraging, but it seemed to only make the whole thing worse. What had she done wrong? And how could she fix it?

Amy knew that she had made this promise to herself before, but she would make it again: she was going to give Silver some hope.

Dr. Jacob left the operating room and was instantly swarmed by Silver's companions. He held his hand up in a motion to calm them, and ordered them to sit as he began to speak.

"Okay, everything went well," he described. They all visibly relaxed. "First of all, as I guessed, his ribs were only cracked. I can't do much to heal them directly, but I have placed him in a brace that will make him somewhat immobile so he doesn't aggravate his injuries."

"None were broken?" Sonic asked. The doctor shook his head.

"Fortunately. As for his leg, he had complete closed, oblique fractures of his tibia and fibula in his left leg," Dr. Jacob described. At their confused faces his continued, smirking at his own use of medical jargon. "The two bones in his lower leg were broken in two, diagonally across, but luckily didn't break the skin. I've set the bones and put it in a cast. That will probably take the longest to heal."

"Will he be able to walk again?" Amy questioned him.

"Of course, it wasn't that serious. His head injury was what I was worried about," the human explained, his face solemn. "He woke up a few times while we were scanning him, and I could tell he has a concussion, but I will have to monitor him before I can tell how serious it is. Most of his head bleeding was external, so aside from the concussion his brain is fine."

Amy gave a big sigh of relief. The others showed similar reactions, and the doctor smiled.

"I have a new medicine that should help speed his recovery, and he'll be on pain medication and antibiotics for a while, but other than that his prognosis looks good," Dr. Jacob concluded. "Considering the fall you described to me it could have been a lot worse, but it was still good you got him to me when you did."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" asked Tails, holding one of his tails and fidgeting with it slightly.

"I say his prognosis is good, but that doesn't mean he couldn't have a setback," the doctor explained. "He'll have to be constantly observed just in case. That's something you can help me with."

"Anything you need," Elise said. "Thank you, Dr. Jacob."

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Silver was floating. His head was resting on something so soft it was hard to tell it was even there. He could barely move his body, but he felt like he didn't want to. He had never been so comfortable in his life. He was just floating…floating…

_This must be heaven…_he thought.

Something was also caressing his cheek. It was warm and strangely comforting. His addled brain imagined it was Amy's hand, and that she must have been smiling warmly at him. This was perfect. He was so comfortable and his Amy was with him. If this was indeed heaven, then he never wanted to leave. He raised his own hand to touch the one rubbing his muzzle. It froze.

"Amy…" he whispered. It sounded like his voice was far away. "My angel…"

There was a small chuckle and the hand began rubbing his face again. Silver let himself sink further into the warmth and comfort of his bliss.

"You should sleep now, Silver," a calm voice advised him. This one too felt like it was being spoken at some distance.

"I am sleeping…" he murmured.

He didn't notice when the hand left his cheek and placed his own hand back at his side. He felt something briefly touch his forehead before he dozed off.

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Silver woke up some time later, completely this time. He found that he was lying on his back staring at the canopy of a rather luxurious bed. It was deep green, as were the rest of the bed and the carpet of the room. His body felt very heavy, and he could barely move it. The euphoria he was feeling before completely left as the pain in his head erupted. He raised his right hand to grasp his head, and he saw that there was a catheter in his hand. It was injecting some sort of liquid into his body, and since he didn't know what it was it made him nervous, though he was too groggy to really react. The catheter was connected to a bag hanging above him. He saw the bag, and saw a male human with a clipboard looking over him.

"Good morning, my boy," the older human said cheerfully. "You made it through the night. That's a good sign."

"Good…what?" Silver muttered. His head was spinning. "Where…am I?"

"In one of the guest wings of the Soleanna Castle, under Her Majesty Princess Elise's watch," he explained. "My name is Doctor Zaydan Jacob. Do you feel any pain anywhere?"

"…My head…"

"Yes, the concussion, but you're at least somewhat coherent," Dr. Jacob deduced, speaking more to himself than to his patient. He pried Silver's eyelids apart to examine his eyes. "And your eyes are clear. That's good too."

The doctor inspected the hedgehog for a few more minutes, commenting on his state and writing a few things on his clipboard. It took a few minutes before what he said clicked in Silver's mind.

"Wait…Soleanna…?" he repeated, panicking a little. He couldn't be in Soleanna. He just couldn't. "No…I…"

"Calm down," Dr. Jacob warned. "It's okay."

"No…" he whimpered, a little louder. He braced himself to sit up only to find that he could barely do even that. Something was wrapped around his chest and stopped him from getting up past a twenty degree angle. He started to struggle. His alarm was rising as seconds passed, terrified by the fact that he couldn't get up or move his left leg at all.

Dr. Jacob had no chance to react before Silver yanked the catheter out of his hand, causing it to start bleeding, and tried to stand again. He placed his hands on the boy's shoulders and tried to push him back down, but Silver would have none of it. He pushed the doctor's hands away and rolled over, causing him to fall off the bed and onto his injured chest. He gasped as his cracked ribs shook in pain. He didn't notice Dr. Jacob call for backup as Silver tried to maneuver his bound leg so he could stand. He quickly failed in this and laid his head on the carpet, panting in exhaustion.

The others came as swiftly as they could. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles arrived at once. Seeing the scene Knuckles rushed forward to pick the white hedgehog up and put him back on the bed, laying him on his back. Silver began struggling again.

"No!" he cried, swinging his arms at the echidna, but not fazing him in the slightest. "Stop! Put me down!"

Sonic and Tails moved to pin Silver's arms and undamaged leg down. Silver was kicking as hard as he could, but with the medicine in his system his senses and reflexes were dulled slightly, so he didn't have a lot of strength to fight. Knuckles forced the hedgehog's arm still as Dr. Jacob measured a sedative in a needle and carefully injected it into Silver's shoulder.

Amy watched from the doorway as Silver slowly calmed down. She didn't try to help restrain him, as she was afraid of getting in the way or making Silver more upset. She stared at Silver as his struggles lessened until he was still, though he was still breathing hard.

"Please…let me…go," he begged, his eyes beginning to water. He didn't want to be there. The memories connected to the place were too much to bear.

"I'm sorry, my boy," Dr. Jacob said with regret. He carefully cleaned up Silver's bleeding hand and reinserted the catheter. "You must be confused. You need some rest."

"I'll stay with him tonight," Sonic offered.

Have Sonic stay with him? Silver started to fluster again. He didn't want Sonic there…he didn't want _anyone _there with him. He wanted to cut all ties he had with the past. It pained him too much to think about, let alone live through again. He just wanted to return to his time, fight Iblis off when necessary, and keep his dreams to himself.

"But I could—" Amy protested.

"I can get the doctor faster than you could," Sonic argued, interrupting her. "In case he has another episode."

Amy didn't respond as everyone but Sonic moved to leave the room. Tails patted her arm and led her out.

"Don't worry, Amy," the kitsune comforted. "You can see him tomorrow."

Amy took one last look at Silver, before nodding slightly and following the others out. Sonic closed the door, and then moved to sit in the chair next to the bed. Silver took one tired glance at him before looking away. He really didn't want to deal with the blue hedgehog at that moment.

"Hey Silver. How do you feel?" Sonic asked. The other didn't answer him. Sonic sighed loudly. "Listen, I want to apologize. I shouldn't have goaded you."

"Doesn't matter," Silver muttered tiredly. The sedative was starting to take its full effect. "You were right."

"I was?"

"Yeah."

Sonic could tell that Silver wasn't completely aware of his surroundings at that point. The sedative that Dr. Jacob had given him must have been pretty strong. Silver probably couldn't control what he thought or said. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage.

"How was I right, Silver?" he questioned.

"About…how…I pushed Amy away…" the white hedgehog whimpered. "It…hurts…to be near her…"

"I would think it would hurt to be away from her," Sonic reasoned.

"It does," Silver said in agreement. He stared at the bed canopy lazily. "But…I could only…have one or the…other."

"Huh?"

"Either Amy or…a good world," Silver murmured, his responsiveness slowing. "I would…rather live in…eternal hell…than break her heart."

Silver turned his head away from Sonic, who was staring at him in slight disbelief. He stood there watching Silver as he dozed off.

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The following day, while Silver was fast asleep, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Elise met in a conference room in the palace to discuss what their plans for the future were. They had many things to talk about. Dr. Jacob had ordered that Silver be watched twenty-four/seven, so at least one of them had to be by his side at all times. Also, Eggman had been launching attacks in Soleanna and around the forests and beaches nearby. Something had to be done to stop or at least reduce them. They had to research exactly how Iblis came to be, and how to stop that from happening without resorting to killing Sonic as well. They had promised Silver that after all. Sonic relayed what he had 'conversed about' with the injured hedgehog.

"He actually told you that?" Amy inquired with incredulity. "He really said he would prefer to deal with Iblis than hurt me?"

"How would he hurt you that way?" Knuckles wondered. "What's the connection?"

"If Silver doesn't kill me, than Iblis would continue to terrorize Crisis City," Sonic explained. "But if Silver kills me to defeat Iblis, then Amy would hate him. Or so he thinks."

"Why?"

"Because Silver thinks I'm in love with Sonic," Amy added, gazing at her feet.

"But not anymore," Sonic informed in a light tone, nodding to Amy.

"Not anymore," Amy confirmed. She looked up at Sonic. "You don't mind?"

"I think it shouldn't matter if I mind or not," Sonic stated wisely, grinning.

Amy smiled back at him. There was a moment of silence.

"Okay, so as to the plan," Sonic directed them back to the subjects at hand. "First, watching Silver. We need to take shifts so that at least one of us will always be with him."

"That should be easy," Knuckles voiced.

"Right. Second, the deal with Eggman," Sonic listed the next issue. "This goes without saying. We watch for Eggman and confront him when he shows up."

"Again, that part is simple," Tails interjected. "But we also have to find a way to get rid of Iblis."

"I have my best researchers investigating all leads about the 'Flames of Disaster,'" Elise put in from her seat at the head of the table. "If they find anything, they will let us know."

"Thank you, Princess," Sonic expressed. "And we can search for other info on our time."

"Putting all this together might get complicated," Tails mentioned.

"Hey, no worries," Sonic reassured. "We can work this out."

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Amy waited a few days before she did anything about Silver. She asked to be on the shift later than the others; she wanted Silver to be somewhat awake when she spoke with him. She got reports from the doctor stating that he was improving each day, though he didn't remember much about the accident or the first couple of days of his recovery.

Dr. Jacob explained that he was using a new medicine in Silver's IV to hasten the mending of his bones, so what would have taken a few months would only take a few weeks, give or take. As such, he was able to remove the brace around Silver's chest once the doctor decided that his ribs had healed themselves sufficiently.

His head still hurt quite a bit, and his leg was still locked up in a cast. Silver had not been happy when the doctor had told him that he was not to get out of bed until he felt the boy was in good enough condition. Dr. Jacob had to sedate Silver on more than one occasion, until the hedgehog had realized that making the doctor angry wasn't in his best interest.

This particular day Silver had been very cooperative when Dr. Jacob examined him, so aside from the bone mending solution and the pain killers there were not many medicines in his system. And he was aware enough of his surroundings to hold a conversation, though limited because he didn't want to speak to anyone. Amy hoped to change that.

She carried a bowl of noodle soup and a large piece of chocolate cake up to the guest room where Silver was staying, or where he was 'kept prisoner' as he had told Knuckles one day. She had a smile on her face and a spring in her step. Amy couldn't wait to see Silver. Because she intentionally had her shift last she hadn't seen him since he was moved into the room, and he had been unconscious then.

Although, she still found herself smiling when she recalled how Silver had called her an angel in his sleep.

Holding the food in one hand, Amy pushed the door open. She saw Silver sitting up on his bed, his broken leg forced outward due to the fact that it was still in a cast. The catheter had been taken out of his hand again, which was now bleeding slightly. He still had a large bandage around his head, and he held a hand at it as he attempted to stand.

"Darn it…" he muttered.

"Silver!" Amy yelled, setting the soup and cake down on the bedside table and rushing to push Silver back down. He stared at her in shock. "What are you doing, trying to stand like that?!"

_Oh great, _Silver thought. _What terrible timing._

"I want to get out of here," he said, this time succeeding in standing up. It was a little awkward though, trying to shuffle around with a broken leg. "Please."

"No," Amy responded. She put her hands on his shoulders, but he wouldn't budge an inch. "Why do you want to leave so badly?"

"I can't be here," Silver answered hopelessly. He couldn't really put his feelings into words. He wasn't used to having these sorts of feelings. He tried to move to the door, but Amy blocked his way. "I don't want to be around people who hold me here against my will."

"We want you to get better, Silver!" Amy persisted. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"I wish you had let me die."

Amy froze, her hands still on his shoulders. Silver kept his gaze on the floor, not wanting to look into the sparkling green eyes he had fallen in love with. Amy recalled that Silver had asked Knuckles to kill him, to put him out of his misery. She didn't want to believe that Silver thought that way, but…

"You don't mean that…"

"If Iblis had found me before Sonic did," Silver admitted, still not looking Amy in the eye. "I would have let it kill me."

"Don't say that," Amy cried, shaking him a bit. "Please. If anything like that happened to you…I…"

Silver finally raised his gaze to her.

"Why does that mean so much to you?" he asked.

"I want to help you. I want to defeat Iblis as badly as you do," she explained. Silver gave her an astonished face. "Don't be so surprised. I've told you this."

"I know, but—"

"I want to see you smile, Silver," Amy exclaimed. Now Silver was really confused. She kept going. "I want to see you happy, like that time you bathed in the river? Remember that?"

He did remember it. It was his first encounter with clean water. Silver had jumped into the river to have a bath, enjoying the cool water and almost scaring Amy out of her boots. She had been worried that he would drown, but the water had only reached his shoulders. Had he smiled that time? He supposed he did. Silver nodded.

"I remember."

"I'd like to see that again," Amy said.

"…Why…?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I care?"

_With Sonic around, _Silver thought, looking away from her again. _Yes._

Amy could tell that he seemed to have trouble trusting her word. She couldn't blame him. There were probably many instances of mistrust and broken promises in his life. She could recall his words easily:

"_**There is no hope here! Only survival, and even that is out of reach for many of us."**_

But Amy was going to change that. She would keep persisting, encouraging him as much as she needed to, until he finally understood.

She also had a trick up her sleeve.

"It's just like how you would rather, oh what was it?" she teased, feigning ignorance for only a moment. "Live in eternal hell than break my heart?"

"What?" Silver wondered. Then he remembered saying something similar to Sonic the other day. The memory was still a little fuzzy, but he could vaguely recollect it. That meant she knew how he felt. He could feel his face expressing all this. "Oh no…"

"Oh no is right," Amy joked. Without saying another word, she leaned up and kissed him.

It was a warmth he had dreamed about. Not the fire that Iblis produced, but a flame of something greater. He loved that feeling. He only imagined what it would be like, and now that he had it he didn't want to let go.

Amy began moving her mouth against his, and he followed suit. Her arms moved over his shoulders and pulled herself closer. Silver slowly (and shakily) wrapped one of his arms around her waist and the other hand went to tangle into her quills. His eyes closed. He was back in bliss, his heaven.

Amy carefully pushed Silver backwards toward the bed. When the back of his knees hit it he sat, with his left leg clumsily sticking out to the side. Amy moved her hand to his chest fur and began to stroke right over his heart.

It seemed like ages, but moments later they broke apart for air.

"…This is a dream…" Silver gasped, his eyes still closed. "…Or I'm drugged…this isn't real…"

"Very real," Amy responded, her voice just as raspy. She met his lips with hers again.

They sat on the bed kissing for a while longer before Amy moved away. Silver leaned forward and reached his arms out, following her as she left. His eyes were still closed and he had a foolish smile on his face. He was so preoccupied by his elation that he was only snapped out of it by the clicking of the door and the turning of the lock.

His eyes snapped open. Amy wasn't in sight and the door had been closed. Standing, Silver hobbled over to the door and turned the knob; it was locked. Concentrating his psychic powers, he tried to open the lock only to feel a stab of pain in his head. It seemed his telekinesis wasn't going to be available until his head had healed. He tried the doorknob again with no success.

"Amy!" he called through the door. "Open the door!"

No answer. He began banging on it with his fists.

"Amy, I know you're there!" Silver yelled, getting upset. He was trapped again. "Open the door! Please!"

"Eat your soup and get some rest, Silver," Amy replied from beyond the door. Her voice was firm, and he couldn't argue with it. "I'll go tell Dr. Jacob that your IV came out."

Silver listened as her footsteps faded. He sighed and went back to the bed. Sitting next to the soup and cake on the nightstand, his mind was solely on the few minutes prior. Were Amy's actions all just a ploy to keep him there? She had just kissed him and left. What if it was all just a joke? If it were, she was probably laughing her head off about it.

No. It couldn't be a trick. Amy doesn't lie. Something in his heart told him it was genuine. She had tried to help him on so many occasions after all. Yes, they had their arguments, but when he looked back on them they were mostly misunderstandings.

Silver touched his mouth and smiled. Amy had kissed him not once, but twice!

The food sat on the table, cold and forgotten.

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End file.
